About Me

I'm just me - a solitary wanderer who trekked across much of the world and recently retired to a small farm in the Ozarks.
My checkered past includes time spent as an Army officer, high school teacher and principal, real estate broker, child protection worker and administrator, and social worker with the U.S. military.
Over the years I have resided in a variety of places including Missouri, Virginia, Okinawa, Kansas, Kentucky, and Arizona. I have also traveled to Germany, Mexico, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Great Britain, Belize, Guatemala, Taiwan, Guam, South Korea, Vietnam, and numerous islands in the Caribbean - including Cuba.
I have ridden in a Russian ambulance, hitch-hiked across Moscow late at night, fought an ostrich, celebrated New Year's at a street party in Hanoi, and bicycled across the Caribbean. My travels have taken me to Ground Zero in Hiroshima, the Bolshoi Ballet, China Beach, and the White House kitchen.
The nine things in life that I am most proud of are my children: Nick, Molly, and Tim, and my grandchildren: Boone, Sebastian, Judah, Olive, Willow, and Sullivan.
Life has been very good to me indeed!

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Road Rage and Guns

by Pa RockCitizen Journalist

There was some sort of incident out in the road just past my house the other day. I don't know what occurred, but two cars were stopped and a lot of yelling ensued. I withstood the urge to walk out into the yard and rubberneck primarily because I know that most of the yahoos who speed up and down the scenic country lane that I live on are armed and stupid.

Fortunately, no shots were fired and the angry drivers decided to get back on the road to Walmart before John Law arrived and got into their business.

There are news stories out today stating reporting that cases of road rage involving guns are on the rise. The exact dimensions of the problem are hard to measure because most police agencies don't specifically categorize "road rage" in their reporting systems. Between 2014 and 2016, however, of the 1,319 cases of road rage which were reported in news sources, 354 people were wounded in the incidents and 136 were killed - and the number of yearly incidents discovered by researchers more than doubled between 2014 and 2016.

But, research aside, the speed with which state legislatures are removing all limitations on gun ownership and availability all but guarantees that more people will have weapons in their cars - if for no other reason that to protect them from all of the other people with weapons in their cars. Gun manufacturers and their lobbying groups like the National Rifle Association make lots of money convincing people that they must have guns to protect themselves from other people with guns. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy and one which is highly profitable.

An increased presence of guns invariably means an increase in the chances of injury or death. But gun merchants are not concerned with death, only profits. For those who live in fear of being slaughtered by a redneck terrorist with a gun, their advice is this: Buy more guns!